Legend of Zelda Fate & Destiny 2: Ethereal Elixer
by Vincent Swiftstrike
Summary: Takes place after the first Story. Read the first one before this one.    Accidentally stumbling in another word rather unwillingly. Link finds himself once again in need, as the world he is now trapped in is dying quickly. But he has a new companion now.
1. Introduction: Belgarion, the Alchemist

**Notes:** Well, I am back much much much much _much_ quicker then I expected to be.

Why can't I write two stories at once? :

If you had not read the first Fate & Destiny story, I suggest you read it before reading this one. This takes place RIGHT after the events (which it's world was from Majora's Mask, thus, is why it is labeled Majora's Mask here, although it will have very little to do directly with the game, unlike last time) of the first story.

I will say the same thing that I had done the first time: If you like the story, please review it, if you see any stupid/obvious spelling errors/typos that I may have missed, please tell me about it. It's appreciated, and my proof reading skills are terrible. Not that I didn't know that the first story. I proof read a chapter 12 times and find out that it still had typos in it.

With these words set, let us begin the second... or, technically, third adventure.

Also, as a small warning, this chapter has quite a lot to take in at once about things in this new world. Think of it as Chapter 24, if as this is still technically the same story. This is pretty much just a different section for a completely different part of the story.

* * *

_*Chunk*_

_*Crack*_

_*Wooooohhhh~~...*_

_*Creeeaaaaakkkk...*_

"_Phew..._ It sure is storming pretty badly tonight, isn't it Belgarion?"

Sitting in a small little chair at the counter. A white haired boy peeked out from behind a book he was reading. Looking no older then 12, with dark purple eyes, the boy's hair was tidily cut in a boyish look. Neat and even. He was dressed in a light red vest and pants, light brown heavy boots and a small cape that went down to a bit past his knees, spiked at the bottom with a little triangular design. The cape was trimmed with the same color of his vest on the sides, but the rest of the cape was a dark brown.

Placing the book down and getting up from his seat, he walked over towards the counter, where a female removed the hood from her head revealing deep red hair, and green eyes. She looked young, but was still an adult compared to the boy in front of her. A green patterned tattoo was on her forehead.

"Aye." The boy let out as he gazed at the window, as candles flickered in the room. Even though it was early afternoon, the storm clouds were so thick with rain and hill spewing down at the land below, that a light source was needed or else the entire building was shop. Belgarion leaned his arms over the counter, tapping his finger idly as he began to speak.

"This spills out to be a bad omen indeed... This is almost the third day in a row now. Storm is much worse then the previous two days. Almost as if it's gaining power. Yet last week, it snowed like a blizzard." The boy let out a sigh. "Ahh, it's kind of bad for business. I can't go out to get the ingredients I need for my potions. And if this rain keeps up, I almost think this swamp will flood. Then I'm really going to be in some trouble, heh."

The girl raised her hand, putting a finger to her lips. "Mmm? Bad for business? I thought people like buying your potions, especially the good luck ones?"

Belgarion shrugged. "You know how I think about those potions, Tyaeth. _I_ don't believe in them. But some other people do. But I suppose if it makes them feel safer and in a slightly better mood from the mess we are in, it may be a good thing, I hope."

"Speaking of potions, and you unable to find ingredients, I came to give you the monthly supply for our contract. Although I do need two of the usual myself. Although, the supply is of course a little lackluster this month. So I will just take those two potions as payment this month. Acceptable, right?"

"Of course." The white haired boy replied. Before pushing his weight off the counter, and going back to the wall behind the counter. His eyes gazing at the assortments of potions he had in stock. Many different colors. Many different sizes. Many different containers to hold them in. He soon reached over to a low counter, pulling out what looked to be a giant pot with a tightly secured table.

"Super dose for the road should do." He let out, pulling out the larger, but not extremely heavy container, and then sliding it on the counter. "Easier to carry then two separate bottles."

"Yep." Tyaeth agreed. Before digging inside of her thick coat that was soaked on the outside, which had been used to ward off the terrible weather, she soon pulled out a seldom tiny wooden box, sliding it on the counter, Belgarion eyed it a little curiously.

"You weren't kidding about lackluster... Oh well, it cannot be helped at this time, I suppose."

"Yeah, sorry. I'll try to do better next month." The red-haired apologized, before taking hold of the container. "I'll see you when the terrible weather blows over, or next month, whenever comes sooner. See you 'til then little bud."

Giving a nod, the boy watched her exit out the wooden door. He glanced outside when the door opened, and shivered as a wet wind blew in, hissing out one of his candles, before the door closed. Immediately going to repair the candle that hissed out, he grabbed a nearby candle gently, feeding the wick the already existing flame of the candle he held to reborn the flame of the one that hissed out. When objective was accomplished, he rested the candle back into it's holder.

Belgarion soon walked over to the side of the window gazing at the terrible weather as hail pelted the glass window of his shop.

"Hmm... It's progressively gotten worse and worse ever since the month of Thebes... I wonder if it will ever return to normal... No, a better question would be if _we_ can turn it to normal?"

"Yggdrasil, the core of the world, the world tree that binds this planet together, thirsts on a special liquid, and that has always kept the planet stable. Not once has Yggdrasil's food dried up. Ethereal has always provided the tree with the resources to keep the planet's life fresh and ripe, and keep it constantly renewed... This weather cannot be just a stroke of bad luck. The planet... is dying..."

* * *

**Chapter 1 Introduction: Belgarion, the Child Alchemist**

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* * *

**"...Ah... I was sure this was supposed to be a shortcut. But it's night fall and I'm still not there... I don't think I'm even close to Hyrule territory yet. Am I even going in the right direction? I ended up way off course..."

The brown horse trotted along a rocky wall with the green male, Link, on her back. Link's eyes fell half closed. He was tired. It had been several hours since he had left the mysterious forest, and thus, Termina after saving the country from impending doom, before a giant moon would have fallen on Clock Town, and the result... Link didn't want to think about what would have happened if he failed. He had nearly failed several times with his stay in Termina.

The final words that the mask had spoken to him in the final battle, was still inside the barriers of his mind. Several times he had tried to shake the words out. But with nothing else for his mind to think about except for trying to get his way back to Hyrule, and have lost his way, it was difficult.

* * *

_**"Hehe... Ahah... It is so ironic... Once to be a guardian... But my people had become greedy with desires and had become clouded with nothing more but greed and lust, and the want for power... I devoured their desires and them as well, it was the only way to protect them..."**_

_**"But every single human was filled with lust... I devoured them until not a single one was left... Then that warrior came... He forced their desires to control me, and trapped me as a mask! My armor was not magical... It was merely the desires YOU humans possess!"**_

_"But not all humans are greedy and lustful!- -"_

_**"HehehHAHAHAHAHAA! NONE! ? Nonsense! Even that trash that wore me for a little while was lustful for destruction! Everyone has a dark side! Even you!"**_

_**"Everyone and everything is a monster... It doesn't matter how hard you fight, evil will always prevail, because even the 'hero' will be evil in the end!"**_

_"That can't be... - -"_

_**"Heehee! You will see... You living creatures, as long as you possess the wellspring emotion known as the 'heart'... You will be monsters! You will always be monsters and full of evil! !..."**_

_**

* * *

**_"Ugh... Why can't I just think of something else? Why am I forcing myself to dwell on- Epona?"

The horse had suddenly jerked to a stop. Link's tired eyes looked up, he hadn't slept ever since the first day in Termina, although he did get knocked out after the final battle, it was only a couple hours. But he had forced himself to press on. But the reason Epona had stopped, was because the mouth of a cave had revealed itself. The brown horse gazed her head to her master, wishing to know if they should change course, or continue walking around the cliff.

They had been scaling this cliff for hours now, trying to find a way around, perhaps there was a way_ through_?

Hopping off of Epona, Link soon glanced in the mouth of the cave. It was dark, but for some reason, he could see a light source up ahead. Drawing his shield and sword, he motioned his horse to follow. Being as loyal as she was, that was what Epona did. As Link traveled inside more, he found that the cave was lit up by touches mounted on the walls. Perhaps someone lived here, or this cave was a common traveling place? Surely there had to be some kind of merit for lighting a random cave.

Despite the sound and flickering of the fire from the torches, it felt very eerie and cold. Link shivered several times as he walked. Knowing Epona was with him though made him feel safer, even if she was just a horse, she was a trusted companion.

"Ah, light!" He soon let out, before breaking off into a bit of a sprint. However, he soon skidded to a stop.

There was light, but other then a little piece of ground he now stood on, it was a complete drop into nothing but a slanted cliff, and water down below. And now, it was raining heavily, not only that, but Link had noticed, it was very early morning. It had been sometime just a little after midnight before, how could this be?

Link soon heard Epona let out a frightened neigh, and he spun around, his eyes widening.

"Who are you!" He soon demanded. "Release Epona!"

Holding the horse's mouth shut with some sort of leather device that was over her mouth, which kept her still as she jerked about, there stood a male and a female. The female looked to be a teenager, fourteen or fifteen, the male however, seemed to be older. The male had a scythe that he carried over his arm, as he grinned at Link, white spiked hair as red eyes glared into him. "Hmm. That's a nice horse you got there." He said as he held the reigns over Epona's snout to keep her still. "Unfortunately for you kid, I already know who you are. We can't have you saving this world - it needs to be destroyed. You've seen too much."

"Wh..._What?-!_" Link let out in disbelief.

"Tio." The male merely let out.

"...Yes, Krief." She said, before pointing her finger down at Link's feet. Soon, the ground gave away. Link let out a surprised yet panic yell, as he quickly grasped any remaining ground he had with his hands, as he dangled over a deathly drop. He tried to pull himself up, but with his exhaustion with his efforts over Termina still in his body, it was a difficult task. Krief slammed down on Link's hand that was holding his sword with his foot. Link let out a yell of pain, as he struggled to keep himself from falling. Krief leaned real close to his face that was contorted into pain.

"Heroes only make worlds suffer long in the bitter end. If _we_ don't end them, they will only end themselves. You will learn this when you're dead just like _we_ were."

"We...were...?" Link groaned out, before Krief stepped off of his foot. "You can have you mule, back." He said, before releasing the restrains on her snout, she let out a neigh, before once more, the ground gave away for not just Link, but Epona as yell.

**_"NOOOOOOOO-! !"_** Krief and Tio heard Link yell, as the boy and his horse fell down. Soon, their bodies skidding painfully against the cliff, and with two separate splashes, landed in the water. Neither of the two resurfaced.

"What a fitting end. Come, we have work to do." Krief ordered the younger female, whom gave a small smirk at what the boy's fate was, before the two both vanished.

* * *

_*GASP*_

Link sputtered as pain was dominate all over his body. He struggled to stay afloat against the water's current as his body almost refused to move. He was probably bleeding in several places, as the water around him was in red, but there was only one thing he cared about right now.

"Epona...! Epona!" He called out weakly, quickly glancing left and right. Before long, the horse soon emerged with a loud splash and a frightened neigh, Link quickly did his best to move over to her.

"Agh... Are you, alright...?" The boy asked the horse, before the sound of rushing water became louder. Link looked, as he realized, this was a waterfall.

Both he and Epona cried out as there was nothing they could do to stop themselves from being thrown out of the river into the air, where they both landed down below after falling several meters, before crashing into the water a second time.

Link fought to help keep the horse afloat, as by now, she had been knocked out cold. Link prayed to the three goddesses that Epona was alright. Doing his best to swim and drag the horse onto land he saw nearby. It took every ounce of strength. Fortunately for him, he still managed to keep grip of his sword and shield during all of this. Those two were also treasured to him. As well, he felt the ocarina of time still inside his wet tunic. That was also extremely important.

Successfully making it to land. Link sighed, before collapsing forwards with a light splash. He and Epona, half submerged in the water. Link grit his teeth. He couldn't move. He felt himself bleeding in several places. Despite how hard he struggled to move, his body simply would not. The best he could do was prop himself on his elbows, but that became too taxing, and he would just collapse in the water again. He heard thunder boom out loudly, as heavy rain continued to pelt him.

Link didn't know how long he lay there. 5 Minutes? 30? An hour, several hours? He could slowly feel himself slipping more and more into unconsciousness. His eyes soon caught movement other then mere rain. Although he was far too weak to lift his head up to see light brown leather boots stand near him. Whoever the figure was, bent down to feel Link's pulse. Then moved over to Epona. But Link never got to see much of that, for all strength left him, and he blacked out.

* * *

"Ugh...unnhh..."

Link groaned out as he shifted slightly, but winced as sharp pain came from any movement he made. Although, even with this, he rolled his head to his left, trying to make out where he was. He heard someone shift, as he looked at a white haired boy who seemed to be only a couple years older then him get up from his seat at a counter, dressed in the same light rest clothing he was in before, he moved over to Link. "Hmm, awake already? I'm quite impressed. Then again, I was impressed that was you still alive as well."

"What... happened...?" Link asked out loud.

Belgarion let out a small chuckle. "I was hoping _you_ could tell _me_ that, my little friend. You're the one who ended up on my property, after all. Although, I suppose you want to know about the horse?"

Link's eyes widened, trying to sit up, but he was stopped by a sharp pain, and he flinched from it as his face contorted into pain.

"I suppose I'll take that as a yes." Belgarion let out as he crossed his arms over his torso, before leaning against the counter. "To put it simply - you are in far worse shape then your horse is. Although she is so frightened, that I had to lock her up in my storage room, lest I have my entire place trashed."

"Phew... She's alive..." Link let out in relief, closing his eyes to hear this good news. Belgarion took note of this, but said nothing about this. Obviously this green boy cared about the horse deeply.

"There is a problem with _you_ though." Belgarion said a bit uncomfortably, and Link opened his eyes in a bit of a worried fashion.

"Don't give me that look. You're not going to die or anything. But you will most likely be bed ridden for a long period of time." The white haired male replied. "I'm an alchemist, not a doctor. I make medicine, but I cannot actually take care of wounds. Although I have dressed all of yours just so no infections happen. That was the best I can really do for you, other then giving you large doses of medicine that controls your blood loss. And the fact I have to give you large doses worries me."

"Why is that?" Link simply asked.

"Consuming large doses of medicine in such a short rate causes medicine poisoning. Potions are nothing more then drugs in a liquid form with many properties in them that trick the body, accelerate a task the body can perform, or temporarily increase a body's strength. Of course, potions can do the opposite of these as well if someone designed one to do that. Uhm... Point is, drinking too many potions can make you become addicted. They are drugs in liquid form for quick and easy consumption, and are far more potent then pills. And when an individual has medicine poisoning, they become strongly addicted, and if they cannot control that addiction, they'll consume potions until they die."

Letting out a little bit of a yawn, having been up all night taking care of his special guests, Belgarion continued. "Although, I suppose you are too crippled to be wandering around my shop, drinking random potions to find the proper one you're addicted too. The addiction is rather uncomfortable, though from what I heard. Think of yourself as if you was starving, yet there was food right in front of you."

"So then... Where exactly am I? I was trying to get to my own world, but it seems like I may have ended up in another world..." Link muttered a little.

"World traveling, eh? That's actually quite known here. Even I have done it a few times to get a few ingredients to concoct a few special brews... Traveling between different realms however can be a little messy, if not expensive, though... Also, there is only one place you can do it. You see, there's many entrances in, but only one exit out. And that's in the core of the earth, where our world, is the tree that holds our planet together and keeps it, and us, alive, Yggdrasil.

"Yggdrasil?" Link questioned.

"Yggdrasil's roots feed on an essence called Ethereal liquid. As it drinks up this liquid, it uses it to create new life and renew old life. I do not know where you live, but in every single thing, water, food, nature itself, there is always a little bit of essence of ethereal. We, on this world, require this substance to live. Although we can last quite a while without the substance, it is still a requirement. Without the substance, we will die in a year or two. Some people take the substance in a bottle. Too much of the substance is actually lethal. But if you carry the substance in a bottle, you can live quite a number of years without having to live in this world. But returning at some time _is _necessary to refill the stock of ethereal."

"Ethereal is not rare as it can be drawn from almost anything all over the planet... It's plentiful, yet there is still the problem that, ever since last month, this planet has still been dying. Many people have tried to research why. I feel as if the tree has been stricken with some sort of disease of some sort..."

"That reminds me..." Link began. "Before I came here by accident, I was ambushed by a male and a female... That's how I ended up like this... They didn't want me to "save this world", apparently... I bet they're the one's who have been causing this."

Belgarion's eyes lit up with curiosity. He soon turned around, grabbing a book off of his counter (there were quite a few) before he began flipping the pages.

"Did you get their names?" Belgarion asked.

"The male was called Krief, the female, Tio apparently."

"Oh, I remember those two... About 27 years ago when I was still little, those two used to be alive..."

"27 Years ago? But you look..." Link trailed off as his eyes were serious with confusion.

Belgarion soon smirked. "Yes... I suffered from the same fate as they did..."

"Same fate? What happened!" Link asked seriously.

"27 years ago, the three of us, and a few others, were in a very serious accident... I actually can't remember what it was, I have no memory of my past life. Although I do trust what people have told me what it was like, so it's not like I don't know. Just no recollection of it. Anyways, in the accident, several people were killed... Krief, Tio, and I included..."

"But Alchemy is a curious thing... Using creations called homunculus, our minds and conscious were shifted into artificially constructed bodies. They were made to be just like our old bodies at the time of our death... As you can see, when I died, I was still a child. Apparently we were dead for about 14 years or so."

"The thing is, we are still dead. People have souls. We do not. We are artificially alive as if we were machines made out of flesh. We require everything the exact same a normal person does, but we have no soul. And our bodies will never grow. If our bodies become mutilated, we still do not die. Everything will just become black to us. There is no afterlife for us. The substance of ethereal fuels everyone's soul, because everyone's soul is tied to the Yggdrasil tree, even after death. But because we have no soul, we do not require ethereal any longer to... 'live'."

"Wow... How..." Link trailed off. What was the word he was looking for? Tragic? To not be alive, but to not be dead either. Unable to cease living even after you no longer are animated... Link couldn't fathom it entirely. The thought of what it would be like to "die" as a fate of a homunculus.

"I took alchemy as a study and profession after I was reborn. As I said, after we died, our souls were then infused with Yggdrasil. That means my soul is still out there..." Belgarion said, as he stared out the window watching the rain drops continue to pelt the world outside.

"Then what about Krief and Tio?" Link asked from laying down on the makeshift bed Belgarion had made for him. "What are their intentions?"

"There _is_ one known way to retrieve one soul. And that is to destroy the world tree. When you destroy the world tree though, you destroy the world. So obviously you kill so many people because Ethereal will run out, and people will after a period, almost all die at once, and things will fall into chaos. I am not actually sure how ethereal is produced, but there's massive quantities of it down at the core of the earth. Maybe it is simply recycled like water, and when people die, that amount is recycled as well. That is my theory, anyways. However...

When the person dies, where would their soul go if there was no tree to take hold of it? It would simply linger. When a person dies, the tree renews that person's soul for the next life. This period is called the resting stage. When the soul is renewed, it will go into a new body. Yes, that means people reincarnate. Some people even have memories of their past life. So, partings are a sorrow, but they are only temporary. But some people do not regain their memories because of this. And because I have no soul, I have no chance to."

"And that is what makes me very pissed off. There was no need to reconstruct me into a homunculus. My death would not have been forever. I believe Krief and Tio feel much more strongly about this then I do though. We were lab rats for people while we were dead, and we had no say in the matter. Even if our deaths were in an ill premature fate as children, or young adults, there was still no need to take it that far..."

Belgarion soon let out an exhausted yawn. "...Excuse me. I've been ranting this entire time to you about alchemy, and I'm sure you're tired. Well, at least I know I am."

Link let out a small shrug. "It's okay... I should be resting too... We can always talk more in daylight."

"You're a co-operative one. I like that." Belgarion said with a small smirk, resting the book down on his counter, he went over to the door, fiddling with the knob a little, before Link heard some small clicks. He was probably locking the door. When this small task was done, Belgarion walked back around. Going into a small room, Link heard shuffling inside the room. Before long, Belgarion came out carrying a blanket.

"Heh. I have a few spare blankets. You will learn about me soon enough just exactly how prepared I always am for almost any situation." He said with a small smirk, before unfolding it out, he laid it over top of Link.

"Wow, thank you." Link let out a bit surprised at the hospitality that this other 'boy' was giving him, considering he was a complete stranger - not even from this world.

"Rain will make the building creak quite a bit some times. But think nothing of it. Goodnight." The white haired boy replied, before fizzing out a candle, and the entire building became extremely dark, but not pitch black. Link watched as Belgarion walked back further into the building, there was more rustling, and then a creak as he heard the boy lay himself into bed. Then the only other sound was rain drops constantly pelting the world outside, no sign of it letting up even once.

_"Why... Will I ever be able to return to Hyrule now...? Will I even be able to find Navi?"_


	2. Explanation: The Insides of Alchemy

**Notes:** Even more rather unique, but perhaps confusion of this mysterious world.

Do not worry if you get confused yourself. It is all going to be simplified later, and examples of such will be used later in the story.

* * *

**Chapter 2 Explanation: The Insides of Alchemy  
**

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* * *

**M Aorning birds chirped as the sun's rays woke Link up from his deep slumber. His eyes sealed shut tight as the intense light went through the window.

It was painful but he managed to turn over so his eyes were not being attacked by the light. As he opened his eyes slowly now, he found that he was not actually on the makeshift bed he had been in before, but in a real bed. Looking through the slightly open doorway. This where Belgarion had been sleeping at night. Link figured that the other male must have woken up early, and put him in a real bed. He looked to the corner of the room, and saw his sword and shield resting against the wall in the corner of the room.

Link tested the movement of his bones and limbs. The movements still hurt a large amount. But against his better judgment, he slowly slid himself out of bed, and attempted to stand.

Surprisingly, he done this easier then any other movement. Perhaps his legs did not receive nearly as heavy damage as any other area on his body. Still, moving, let alone standing was a pain. But he decided to endure it, and took slowly baby steps to the door, before slowly creaking it open.

"...Two roots of Ginseng, need to be broken into several pieces, and then melted together into a liquid while in a bowl of water... Water prevents the roots from erupting into a flame... Then add Lotus Flower juice into the mixing of the brew. Adding lemon juice as the final liquid to help die down the bitter taste..."

Resting the book on the counter, Belgarion thought. "Lotus flower, eh? Those are quite rare... But with the amount of rain we had, they should be mass producing in a couple months. I guess I can spare a few."

He glanced back now blinking. "How the hell are you standing?" The white haired boy merely let out as he saw Link standing at the doorway.

"I surprise myself sometimes, I suppose." Link let out with a painful chuckle.

"Mmm. Perhaps, except that if I poked you in the stomach right now, I would be able to knock you over and you probably wouldn't get back up."

"Mm, probably..." Link admitted.

"Have you eaten anything recently, last night in particular?" The little alchemist asked, soon going to a shelf to collect the ingredients he had listed off before Link had walked into the room.

"No, much as I want to..." Link began.

"Good." Belgarion commented. "This potion requires that you last meal was about 14 hours ago, or else it can have some minor side effects. Muscle relaxation potions are very handy, potent and activate quickly, at least the way I make them, but are very restrictive in how they are used. Also they're probably one of the most awful tasting potions ever. So when I make this, the last thing I want you to do is spit it out. It's got some rare ingredients in it."

"I'll try my best." Was all Link said.

Breaking off the Ginseng roots into a metal plate bowl, the boy got a odd flat tool, it looked like a square pole of some sort, he felt around in the bowl, before pressing down hard, loud crunching being heard, as he crushed the roots into several pieces, this was about 80 seconds of crunching, before pulling the tool away. Going back to the counter while holding the bowl, he went to some gray steeled machine. He place the bowl on the top of a plate. Before bending down, fiddling with some switches quickly as if he knew where every single button was like the back of his hand, in a moment, the machine made a soft hiss, steam rising, before a warm fire began to brew. Belgarion soon stood up, sliding the window open a little bit as the potion soon began to bubble and steam, along with mist rising out of the machine, all the air particles were leaving the window so the building didn't fill up.

"This will take a short while before it's finished. Probably about 15 minutes or so before it's finished. Then a few other ingredients, cooling stage, and then you will be good to go."

"How does the potion work?" Link asked.

"It has two effects. The first is the pain killer effect. Makes it so you can't feel pain that easily, makes moving sore muscles much more bearable. During this stage, it's also relaxing your muscles, sort of massaging them in a way in a painless form. By the time the painkiller effects is gone, the secondary effect of repairing sore muscles should be finished, if the muscles are not lethally damaged - which I think yours might be. But you seem tough for a kid, so we'll see. You're still not going to be allowed to eat for a while, though."

"Ugh..." Link groaned. He was already starving. Belgarion took noticed of this.

"I told you last night potions are made for quick consumption and can easily be digested. The potion will fill up your belly, but it's going to be one of the worst drinks you ever tasted, even with how much it's watered down. Ginseng's have excellent medical properties, but they taste awful."

Belgarion glanced out the window.

"This is the first sunshine we have gotten in a very very long time. We should make the most of it today."

Link looked out the window. "What do you mean by that?"

"You need to get back to your world, and I need to visit the Yggdrasil tree myself. I wish to research this problem the world is in, personally... Also, I may at least be able to pay a visit to my soul..."

Link frowned when the white hair boy mentioned his soul like that. Still holding onto the wall to prop himself up, Belgarion soon cupped his hand into a fist, as it moved up to his face. His chin rested resting against it as he thought. "Now that I mention that, I should probably begin packing, shouldn't I? Taking a few potions in case of an emergency wouldn't hurt. Food as well for you, of course."

"For me?" Link asked. "What about you?"

"I am a homunculus, remember? People eat to obtain Ethereal to fuel their soul and body. It keeps it fresh, and preserved. Also because my body is now artificially made from my previous body, it doesn't require the essentials of life as it used to. Yes, I need to eat now and then to keep my energy for my body to continued to function, or else I will shut down like a machine. But it lasts so much longer then everyone else. It was why I didn't sleep very long this morning. I just don't need to."

"At the very least, it has some good effects to it..." Link said, trying to get the male to grasp on the bright side. Belgarion chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Yes, I have always looked at it that way... But am I now dead? Or alive? I want one of the two. Not in between. I think it's terrifying to defy the laws of life like this."

Very soon, there was a ding, and Belgarion glanced back at his little potion brewing machine. Moving silently over to it, he reached over a table, putting on leather gloves, before reaching over to the steaming potion, and then pulling it on the table. The once clear water was now a muddy brown. Belgarion walked over to a box, opening it, he glanced inside.

"Oh good. She did find one this month." He let out quietly. Link never questioned who it was who found what. As Belgarion pulled out a flower, where one side was red, in it's petals, and the other side was gradiented down to a deep purple. In shape, it looked like just a simple common flower.

"Is that what a Lotus flower looks like?" Link asked.

"Yes. The juice inside can only really be used for this kind of potion. They very very rarely bloom to their actual fully appearance, and when they do, it's only for about an hour. There is a myth that if you see one bloom out in the wild, and you make a wish, the wish will come true. I don't like picking alive Lotus flowers, so I only ask for recently dead ones. Lotus flowers are not usually this color when they are alive, they are actually a deep blue. The juice fortunately, preserves for at least 2 months before it dries out."

Snapping the bottom of the stem, Link watched as the contents of the flower dripped out at a steady rate. The liquid was tinged slightly yellow, but it was mostly clear. There was enough juice to probably fill a shot glass.

Squeezing the last drop out, Belgarion soon went over to a cupboard on the wall, standing on the stool, he reached up, plucking about four lemons, before hopping down. There, he he plucked out a random plastic bowl that was closest to him, and placed one lemon in the bowl. Using the same tool he used to squish the Ginseng, he squished all four lemons inside the bowl one at a time, where after all the juice had been gathered, poured the contents inside the bowl. With a giant spoon, he began to stir. Very soon, the potion had become a, not very bright, but crisp looking yellow.

"You may wanna sit down for this, you're going to be coughing from the bitterness and taste, and that is going to hurt for quite a bit until the painkiller effect settles in.

Link made a bit of a worried face as he slowly moved to set down, wincing a bit as he moved to sit down. "Isn't there a way I can rinse it down, with water or something?"

"Like I said, you can't eat much, if at all, before, _and_ after taking the dose for quite sometime. The potion goes inside your blood stream. All your muscles receive blood, and that is how it relaxes all the muscles. If too little is sent because other substances block, or is not being distributed fast enough, it's just not going to work right."

Taking a measuring cup, Belgarion poured quite a large dose into the cup, before walking over to Link. "Raise your head." He instructed.

Following the 'doctor's' orders. The boy lifted his head up slowly. Belgarion soon pinched Link's nose shut. "Big and quick gulps, but not enough to accidentally choke." He recommended. Before he soon pulled the cup to Link's lips, and then began to pour it down. As ordered, Link drink as quick as he could and within seconds the contents were gone. Belgarion quickly released the Hylian's nose and stepped back, and Link flinched as he clutched his stomach, he could feel the cough coming, and before long, was heaving with fits of coughing.

The taste was absolutely _horrendous!_ It was clearly the worst thing he had ever tasted in his life. The potion had been so sour and bitter Link felt that if he didn't clutch his stomach, he would throw up. And his muscles were aching immensely from his coughing fit from being so sore.

"You'll start feeling a bit better in a minute or two. The potion spreads fast. Not sure about the taste though. I wouldn't recommend eating anything else for about 3 hours." He explained, crossing his arms.

Panting with still random coughs breaking through his lips, Link slowly gazed up. "Ughhh... What about... *hack*...Epona?"

"Epona?" The white haired male question, before his eyes lit up. "Oh! Your horse, of course! She's been outside for a while. I was thinking I had to leash her, but it seems she's very fond and tame, and has only wandered around the house. I don't have any horse food, unfortunately, so the grass outside was the only thing she can really eat, unless she finds her own fruit somewhere. Nothing out here is necessarily poisonous. Very clean for a swamp. 'Tis why I picked this spot."

Catching his breath, Link slowly stood up. Testing his muscles, he blinked in amazement. They still felt stiff, but the pain was very minimal, well, compared to before, it was manageable. "By Nayru's Love, that worked fast-!"

Belgarion raised a curious eyebrow.

"Ah, sorry." Link went. "Nayru is one of the three goddesses that govern my world... There's Din, Goddess of Power. Farore, Goddess of Wisdom. And Nayru. Goddess of Courage. The three of them created my world."

"Hrm..." Belgarion let out in wonder. "You have 3 Goddesses, and we have a tree. *Chuckle* But unlike Gods, the tree needs to be nurtured. And it can be quite fragile if attacked the right way... Nonetheless..." He went, before walking over to a sac, before putting a few contents inside a giant pack. "It's always handy having a Potion-making-kit for 'on-the-go'... That potions is useful... Antidote's useful... Lots of Ginseng of course... 'Can carry any Lotus Flowers needed in my pocket, may as well... Medicine for animals..."

"... ... ..." Link stood there as this boy stuffed things in this pack of his, although small, naming off every single one of his contents. This continued to until the pack was full. Where he then zipped it up.

"...I'm going to assume this is going to be a very long trip..." Link let out in a bit of an displeased tone. If time was not quite on their side, then a long trip wasn't good news.

"Hmm, sort of, sort of not. It really depends on the weather. The sky is clear today. This will give is a very good head start compared to the weather we've been having lately. In your injured state, despite the potions effects, you and your horse are still quite weak. Traveling in heavy weather is probably going to make it impossible for you to recover. We need to time our movements wisely. Had it been raining again today, we'd be staying here."

Walking over to the counter, he bent down behind it, before soon pulling out a sword. It was a sabre.

"You fight?" Link questioned with curiosity.

"No. But I do know how to use a sword enough for self defense. A child running a shop alone normally _is_ an easy target to rob from, don't you think? I have actually received my share of lethal wounds. But being a homunculus, I don't die. Hurts a lot, but I shake it off, fix myself up with my own medicine if I need to."

During the time he talked, Belgarion fastened the sword to his side it securely in place inside of the sheath the sword was to fit in. As well, he reached over for his leather gloves, which he pulled onto his hands. Link too, went back into the room where his sword and shield is, and although his muscles were very sluggish and not very flexible in their movements, managed to mount his sword and shield on his back.

Both of them walking outside, as Belgarion carried the pack on his back that held all the items he contained, Link glanced at him a little suspiciously.

"Isn't that heavy for you?" He inquired, as the pack looked rather full.

"It's an enchanted pack. I would never stuff it so full otherwise. Doesn't make it necessarily light, but it does help with a bit of the weight. I mostly got it because it's durable and doesn't wear out easily. This too, was created by a different form of alchemy."

Still walking, Link stole a glance at the sky before looking back. "What types of Alchemy is there?"

"There are two types. First one is medicine alchemy, that's me. It is also the most common form of alchemy. The second is withdraw alchemy, where one can extract something from an item or object. For example, umm... The oxygen that consists inside of water. It too can be used to treat injured patients in a hospital by quite literally extracting the nutrients they need to sustain life in a critical state. That is not exactly it's preference however... I'm not quite if it really has one. It just has a few uses."

Letting out a bit of a sigh, he continued. "There is however, a third one in debate..."

Link looked at the slightly taller boy. "I think I know what it is."

"If you had guessed alchemical homunculi, then you would be correct." Belgarion let out. "The ability to create life without the aid of ethereal or the tree. Artificial life."

Link had soon looked ahead of at the sound of a distant neigh, and quick trotting gallops, his eyes brightened with a bit of happiness. "Epona!" He had soon shouted it, breaking off into a jog himself as the two ran towards each other. Link wrapped his arms around Epona's tough neck, despite her small size as she wasn't a fully grown horse yet. "It's only been for a night, but I missed you." Link said in relief.

Belgarion chuckled at this. "We had become quite good friends while you was sleeping. Tamest horse I had ever seen. Intelligent and beautiful, and strong. I'm kind of jealous." He joked.

Link let out a chuckle, before a loud bang was heard. Epona jolted slightly at the sound, but didn't necessarily pull away. Link and Belgarion looked around curiously.

"Hmm... It's getting worse quicker then I thought." The white hair boy let out as he crossed his arms in thought.

"That sounded like thunder. But I don't even see any clouds nearby." Link let out, as he half pulled away from Epona to look at the young alchemist.

"Oh, it was thunder. But it was so large and loud, that you just heard it from the other side of the globe."

"What! ?" Link let out.

"Don't act so surprised. I mean, it is quite alarming, but this globe actually isn't as big as the other worlds. I know for a fact it was from the other side, because it felt the force come semi underneath me. This of course, means we should get moving now."

With a little aid from Belgarion to get up on Epona (since his muscles were still too weak to get up on his own without assistance), Link sat on top of Epona, before looking down at the other boy.

"Are you not getting on as well?"

"Normally I would, however, everywhere is wet, and because of the terrain can be hazardous. I'll guide ourselves out of the swamp. I know we're in a hurry, but moving too fast where some places are slippery can be dangerous here. I'm sure Epona wouldn't like the extra weight after what you two had been through last night as well. ...Anyways, follow me."

Turning around now, Link watched as Belgarion began to walk forward. That cape of his pressed against his back by the pack that was fixed behind him. Link gave a little nudge to Epona, who began a slow, and almost lazy-like walk, to follow the other male. Who had weaved through shortcuts in the trees, that Link and Epona could just nearly squeeze through.

Despite all the shortcuts they had been weaving through, it seemed very slow. Although Link made no complaints. A lot was on his mind. How _would_ he get back. Did Belgarion had some sort of plan? Even so, did he want to say to help another world that was in peril? He felt it would be unjust to help Termina, but not this place as well.

His thoughts were soon interrupted when Belgarion suddenly jolted to a stop, and thus, Epona as well.

"Ah crap." The boy soon let out in a bit of a wee irritated tone.

"What's wrong?" Link asked inquisitively.

"I forgot to leave a note back at my place for my master."

"Huh?"

"Oh well. She'll probably assume I went off to Yggdrasil again."

"What do you mean by 'master'?" Link asked.

"Oh. I forgot to explain that as well." Belgarion said, before beginning to walk again, but he continued to speak. "When I became a homunculus, the one who revives you takes ownership of you, that is, if you don't have any guardians like me. My parents apparently died in the same incident but could not be saved."

"Her name is Tyaeth, it's very rare she gives me orders, well, usually you're only supposed to watch over the homunculus to make sure they don't go rogue, if there is something they need, it is the master's responsibility to make sure a homunculus doesn't go corrupt. You basically become their guardian instead. But Tyaeth hasn't really done all of that."

"Remember when I said that homunculi is in a way, an unofficial third alchemy choice? Tyaeth is one of them. She is also the second choice as well, while I am the first. Us two together run all 3 steps of alchemy. That is why I am able to open the shop. She gives me the ingredients, and I can brew them quite successfully. When she does give me orders though, they are quite strange, and even sometimes, quite dangerous. Usually to get some very rare materials in a dangerous location. As a homunculus, if anything happened, I can be recovered, so that is why- -"

"That doesn't sound fair at all." Link said in a semi angry tone. "You shouldn't have to do dangerous things just because you are class as renewable."

Belgarion was silent for a few seconds. "I sort of thought it that way too. But that is the laws that govern this world. If I refuse my master's orders, I will be discriminated against, and the chance of removing me from my homunculus status will happen. That means I would sit in a cell, with my body dismantled enough to where I am useless. And I will just sit there until they decide to let me go. If a homunculus happens to have gone severely rogue, this status could be forever. They may never put me back together again. So I don't argue. That is also another reason I am trying to get my soul back. I may be in a reconstructed body, but if I have a soul, they cannot dismantle me. It would be murder, and that in itself would ruin the laws of the world."

"How can you tell who has a soul or doesn't?" Link asked.

"The second form of Alchemists can sense it."

"So then, speaking of going rogue, what about Tio and Krief?"

"They would most likely be dismantled forever if they were caught. But homunculus's are hard to catch, as they are more powerful then normal people and even highly trained alchemists. However, the chances of an homunculus going rogue is extremely rare. I'm actually surprised that both of them went rogue at the same time. They apparently were brother and sister, but both were adopted when they were-"

A loud clank was heard, before Belgarion's eyebrow twitched. "The insane residence of Jilarium...!" Belgarion suddenly cursed out loudly.

"...What happened?" Link asked, before looking down at Belgarion's foot.

"Who the hell laid this trap out here?" Belgarion hissed angrily. Crouching down to his foot. The sharp teeth of the trap digging into his thick leather boot, Belgarion began to try and work himself free.

"Thankfully I was leading and wear thick boots... This would have taken off mine or your horse's entire foot!" He grumbled as he continued to work free, this continued for several minutes before he let out a sigh. "Ugh, it's no use..." He muttered. "I could always get my foot out I suppose but..."

"Well you can't just leave you boot out here in a wet swamp and walk around half barefo-"

"**_AHA-! !_**"

"What now...?" Belgarion muttered to his partner, as a figure jumped out of the bushes. Link was ready to pull out his sword and shield before gasping a little at the sight, before a bow and arrow was soon drawn and pointed at the both of them. As a girl who looked to be about 8 or so threatened them with her ranged weapon. "So you were the one's stealing from my father's cabin, huh! ?" She let out.

"What-" Belgarion started, before the little girl cut him off with her loud lungs. "QUIET YOU!" Before a twang was heard. Link's eyes soon widened, as he watched the arrow being sailed straight at Belgarion, who was snared, and had no way to move out of it. And he, was still caught off guard by not only the appearance of this little girl, but was still on Epona, and had no way of getting off in time to block it!


End file.
